Tag Archives: Bigfoot

10 Films For The Weekend (6/20/25)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hail To The King, Baby

This Sunday is Bruce Campbell’s birthday.  Our own Case Writes will be reviewing Bruce’s two autobiographies on that day.  Here’s a few films you can watch while celebrating.

Sadly, the first three Evil Dead films are not streaming anywhere for free this weekend.  However, Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), which features Bruce as a nursing home resident who may or may not actually be Elvis Presley, is available on Tubi.  This is definitely Bruce’s best non-Ash performance and there’s actually something very touching about the idea of an elderly and forgotten Elvis teaming up with John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) to battle an ancient mummy.  There’s a lot of humor to be found in this film but there’s also a definite strain of melancholy and Bruce gives a truly moving performance as someone who you’ll want to believe in.  The film is on Tubi.

Maniac Cop (1988) is nowhere near as good as the Evil Dead films or Bubba Ho-Tep but it does give audiences a chance to see Bruce giving a relatively “serious” performance as a policeman who is accused of a murder that was actually committed by a hulking zombie cop.  Not only does this film feature Bruce Campbell but it’s also got Tom Atkins, William Smith, Richard Roundtree, and Robert Z’Dar.  If nothing else, this film is a tribute to exploitation canniness.  Director William Lustig and screenwriter Larry Cohen understood that the idea of dangerous cop would remain compelling one long after the film’s initial release and, as such, Maniac Cop retains a definite cult appeal.  The film is on Tubi.

Sadly, Bruce Campbell is killed off rather early in Maniac Cop 2 (1990).  That’s a shame because the second film is a lot better than the first one.  Robert Davi plays the detective who won’t be pushed around while Robert Z’Dar takes the maniac cop’s search for revenge to a whole other level.  Leo Rossi is memorably unhinged.  Personally, I would have liked to have seen Bruce try to take a chainsaw to the Maniac Cop but it was not be.  Maniac Cop 2 can be viewed on Tubi.

Finally, The Woods (2006) is a sadly underrated horror film, one the features Bruce in a supporting role as a loving dad.  Agnes Bruckner give a wonderful performance in the lead role, investigating her mysterious school and taking way too much abuse just because she has red hair.  Hey, I’ve been there!  I’m just happy that “fire crotch” didn’t catch on the way that “Gingers have no soul” did. (Seriously, the redheads have no soul thing was funny when South Park did it but everyone else needs to shut up about it.)  The Woods is an atmospheric horror film from Lucky McKee and one that I would recommend even if it wasn’t Bruce Campbell’s birthday.  View it on Tubi.

Pleasures, Guilty And Otherwise

Seriously, if I had to suggest one non-Bruce Campbell movie to you for this weekend, it would be my favorite Lifetime film, True Confessions of a Go-Go Girl (2008).  Chelsea Hobbs plays a recent college graduate who realizes that she can either waste more of her life in law school or she can just make a bunch of money by being a …. GO-GO GIRL!  The use of the anachronistic term “go-go girl” really does get to the charm of this movie, which manages to be both enjoyably trashy and quaintly old-fashioned at the same time.  Hobbs discovers that she loves to dance and that men love to watch her dance.  Her wimpy boyfriend freaks out when Hobbs goes from being a meek “good” girl to an aggressive temptress.  The film is at its best when its embracing the decadence and the melodrama.  On stage, Hobbs is empowered and I was all about that.  Of course, Hobbs has to using hard drugs and learn a lesson because that’s the way these films go.  Still, this one is a lot of fun and it features Corbin Bernsen doing his somewhat sleazy father figure thing.  Find this film on Prime.

The Perfect Teacher (2010) is also available on Prime and you need to watch it because it features my favorite line of all time.  “I can be your dream …. or I can be your NIGHTMARE!”  This is another perfect Lifetime film and it can be viewed here!

The Wrong Cheerleader (2019) is one of the best of Lifetime’s wonderfully over-the-top “Wrong” film, featuring Degrassi’s Cristine Prosperi and, of course, Vivica A. Fox.  “Looks like he messed with the wrong cheerleader.”  Hell yeah!  It’s on YouTube.  (I have a feeling that if I ever hire someone incompetent, Vivica A. Fox will show up at my door and say, “Girl, looks like you hired the wrong landscaping crew.”)

The Babysitter’s Seduction (1996) was not originally made for Lifetime but it definitely found a home there.  Keri Russell is the innocent babysitter.  Stephen Collins is the handsome but sleazy guy who seduces her and then tries to frame her for killing his wife.  This film’s twists was probably more effective back when Stephen Collins was still best-known as Rev. Camden as opposed to being known for …. other things.  But it’s still a top-notch example of embracing the melodrama.   It can be viewed on Tubi.

From the best Lifetime films, let’s now consider the best SyFy films.  Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2010) not only features Tony Sirico, Paul Sorvino, and Jack Scalia but it also features characters with names like Nooki, TC, and Paulie Balzac dealing with killer sharks in New Jersey.  Joey Fatone appears as himself and is promptly eaten.  Of the many shark films to have been produced by the Asylum, this is definitely one of the best.  It’s on Tubi!

Directed by actor Bruce Davison, Bigfoot (2012) not only features the title character but it also includes Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, and Sherilyn Fenn amongst the cast.  Alice Cooper plays himself and meets a less-than-heroic end.  This Asylum film is a true classic.  It’s on Tubi!

(Click here for last week’s recommendations.)

The TSL’s Horror Grindhouse: Bigfoot (dir by Bruce Davison)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this 2012 Asylum production, the legendary Bigfoot is revealed to just be a big gorilla who wants to sleep for the winter.  In fact, Bigfoot seems to have more in common with King Kong than the hairy, humanoid that people have been reporting seeing for over a hundred years.  Unfortunately, all of the hunters and the tourists and the noise from a local music festival keep interrupting Bigfoot’s slumber.  It turns out that Bigfoot is not a morning monster and tends to wake up grumpy.  When Bigfoot is in a bad mood, he turns over RVs, steps on hunters, and tries to destroy Mt. Rushmore.

Concert promoter Harley Henderson (Donny Bonaduce) wants to kill Bigfoot and turn his body into a tourist attraction.  Environmental activist Simon Quinn (Barry Williams) wants to not only protect Bigfoot but to also perform protest-themed folk music.  Harley and Simon were once musical partners, until Simon decided that he would rather protect endangered species and Harley decided to become a businessman.  Now, they hate each other and are constantly on the verge of coming to blows.  Meanwhile, Sheriff Alvarez (Sherilyn Fenn) just wants to keep her town safe from the creature’s rampage.  You read that right.  This film is The Partridge Family vs. The Brady Bunch with Twin Peaks trying to keep the peace.  If you’re wondering how The Asylum convinced Bonaduce, Williams, and Sherilyn Fenn to all appear in a low-budget film about a giant gorilla menacing South Dakota, consider that they also convinced Bruce Davison to appear in it as well.  In fact, Bruce not only stars but he directed the film as well!  I mean, Bonaduce and Williams were probably just happy that someone was calling them and this film was made before Twin Peak: The Return reignited Fenn’s career.  Bruce Davison, however, has an Oscar nomination to his name.  Of course, before one gets too snarky, it’s important to remember that actors have bill to pay, just like the rest of us.  Sometimes, those bills are played by appearing in Shakespeare.  Sometimes, they’re paid by appearing in Bigfoot.

Actually, no one should be ashamed about appearing in Bigfoot.  Like most of the films produced by the Asylum, Bigfoot is actually a lot of fun.  It’s not a film that’s meant to be taken seriously.  Instead, it’s basically a parody of the big-budget giant monster movies that come out of Hollywood, complete with a tacked-on environmental subplot and an endangered national monument.  Bigfoot is in on the joke.  The minute that Barry Williams picks up his guitar and starts to sing an insufferable folk song, it’s obvious that this film is laughing along with us.  Bigfoot was designed to be a silly film and it succeeds.  When taken on its own terms, it’s hard not to enjoy it.

Finally, Alice Cooper appears in this film as himself, performing at Bonaduce’s concert.  After Alice complains about the crowd size and bemoans the indignity of going from being one of the world’s biggest stars to performing at a festival in South Dakota, Bigfoot literally kicks him off the stage.  Much like the film, Alice deserves some credit for be willing to poke fun at himself.

6 Paranormal Beings Who Deserve Their Own Film

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bigfoot’s such an attention hog.

Don’t get me wrong.  Whether we call him a Sasquatch or a Yeti, we all love Bigfoot.  For a few centuries now, people have been spotting him and yet, to the best of my knowledge, he’s never actually attacked anyone.  He seems to have a good attitude towards his place in the world.  There may be multiple Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) or maybe there’s just one extremely old missing link wandering around out there.  But regardless, they seem to be harmless.

That said, there’s been so many movies about Bigfoot that it’s easy to forget that there are other cryptids out there.  Here are 6 paranormal beings who may (or may not) exist and who, in my humble opinion, all deserve to star in a film of their own.

1. The Goatman of Maryland

Who is the Goatman of Maryland?  He used to be a scientist at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltstville, Maryland.  He did experiments on goats until, one day, karma intervened and he was transformed into a being that was half-man and half-goat.  Grabbing an axe, the Goatman disappeared into the woods and now haunts the backroads of Beltsville.  He’s been described as being a hermit but he apparently has a strong hatred of the teenagers who foolishly hang out in the woods.  Seriously, how has Goatman not starred in a major film yet?  Get on it, horror filmmakers!  I want to review a Goatman movie next October.

2. Champ

Champ is America’s very own version of Nessie.  It ia said to live in Lake Champlain, a body of water that’s shared by New York, Vermont, and Quebec.  Since at least 1819, people have wrote about spotting a giant sea serpent swimming around Lake Champlain.  In 1873, the famous showman P.T. Barnum offered a monetary reward to anyone who could capture Champ and bring the creature to me.  To me, that’s the plot of your movie right there.  Get on it, all of you aspiring screenwriters!  Champ needs a film worthy of a champion.

3, Ludwig the Bloodsucker

Ludwig was an urban legend in New York City back in the 1860s.  He was said to be an undead creature from Eastern Europe who haunted the back alleys and the bars of the Bowery district.  As you might guess from his name, he had a taste for blood.  (In all probability, Ludwig’s legend was probably the result of a combination of Know Nothing and Anti-Saloon League propaganda.)  Ludwig has been described as being “America’s first vampire” and that right there is why he needs to start in a movie of his very own.  I think Christoph Waltz would make a great vampire.

4.  Dark Watchers

Who are the Dark Watchers?  Reportedly, they hang out in the Santa Lucia Mountains in California.  They wear wide-brimmed hats and carry walking sticks and they’re described as being giants.  They never emerge from the shadows but many people have reported spotting their silhouettes while hiking through the mountains.  What are they watching for and where do they live?  Are they dangerous or are they merely observers?  You know what would answer those questions?  A movie!

5. Jackalope

One of the biggest disappointments of my life was when I learned that jackalopes apparently don’t actually exist.  How can you not love a rabbit with antlers!?  Seriously, if any creature has earned the right to star in a PIXAR film of its very own, it’s the mighty jackalope.

6. Wicked Wanda

Wicked Wanda was the ghost who supposedly lived on the top floor of my dorm during my first semester of college.  I never found her, though I did go searching a few times.  There really wasn’t much to her legend, beyond the fact that she was supposedly up there and she was wicked.  Still, if they can make a thousand movies about Annabelle, how about one movie about Wanda?

 

A Movie A Day #259: Take This Job And Shove It (1981, directed by Gus Trikonis)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Originally from a small town in Iowa, Frank Macklin (Robert Hays) is a hotshot young executive with The Ellison Group.  When Frank is assigned to manage and revitalize a failing brewery in his hometown, it is a chance for Frank to rediscover his roots.  His childhood friends (played by actors like David Keith, Tim Thomerson, and Art Carney) may no longer trust him now that Frank wears a tie but it only takes a few monster truck rallies and a football game in a bar for Frank to show that he is still one of them.  However, Frank discovers that the only reason that he was sent to make the brewery profitable was so that his bosses could sell it to a buffoonish millionaire who doesn’t know the first thing about how to run a business.  Will Frank stand by while his bosses screw over the hardworking men and women of the heartland?  Or will he say, “You can take this job and shove it?”

Named after a country music song and taking place almost entirely in places stocked with beer, Take This Job And Shove It is a celebration of all things redneck.  This movie is so redneck in nature that a major subplot involves monster trucks.  Bigfoot, one of the first monster trucks, gets plenty of screen time and, in some advertisements, was given higher billing than Art Carney.

A mix of low comedy and sentimental drama, Take This Job And Shove It is better than it sounds.  In some ways, it is a prescient movie: the working class frustrations and the anger at being forgotten in a “booming economy” is the same anger that, 35 years later, would be on display during the election of 2016.  Take This Job And Shove It also has an interesting and talented cast, most of whom rise above the thinly written dialogue.  Along with Hays, Keith, Thomerson, Bigfoot, and Carney, keep an eye out for: Eddie Albert, Royal Dano, James Karen, Penelope Milford, Virgil Frye, George “Goober” Lindsey, and Barbara Hershey (who, as usual, is a hundred times better than the material she has to work with).

One final note: Martin Mull plays Hays’s corporate rival.  His character is named Dick Ebersol.  Was that meant to be an inside joke at the expense of the real Dick Ebersol, who has the executive producer of Saturday Night Live when Take This Job and Shove It was filmed and who later became the president of NBC Sports?